


i howl when we're apart

by aryasbadbenergy



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Drinking, F/M, Halloween, Making Out, Party, Trick or Treating, and casual robert bashing as there should be, theres a bit of baratheon bastard drama, vague smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:00:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27229984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryasbadbenergy/pseuds/aryasbadbenergy
Summary: gendry doesn’t expect to be invited to a party while taking his little sister trick or treating and he especially doesn’t expect to be invited to that party by arya stark
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Comments: 26
Kudos: 125





	i howl when we're apart

**Author's Note:**

> happy late halloween everyone! it’s a little smutty and a lot fluffy !

**Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers**   
**Starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters**

**The fabric of your flesh, pure as a wedding dress**   
**Until I wrap myself inside your arms, I cannot rest**   
**The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound**   
**I hunt for you with bloodied feet across the hallowed ground**   
**And howl**

**Howl ~ Florence + the Machine**

“Trick or treat!” Barra says when the door opens. Arya pauses when she looks at Gendry, candy bowl in hand. “Wow. You’re like an angel,” Barra says in awe and probably would have grasped the edge of Arya’s skirt if Gendry hadn’t pulled Barra away from it. 

“Hi, Arya.” 

“Hi, Gendry,” she says with a little smile. “And thank you. You must be Barra. I’m actually meant to be the corpse bride, but I’ll take angel. What are you supposed to be?”

Barra grins. “A princess.“

“Oh, I’m so silly, I should’ve guessed. Which princess?” 

Barra thinks for a moment. “All of them.”

“Oh, that’s quite the costume.” She turns to Gendry. “And what are you supposed to be?”

Barra crosses her arms. “He didn’t wear a costume.” 

“Well, why not?” Arya asks Barra. 

“Because he’s too stubborn.” Arya laughs and looks back to Gendry.

“I may have heard that about him a time or two. Would you like to come inside?” Barra is already nodding and dragging Gendry in the house before he can respond. This is the subdivision Robert lived in, and while Gendry had tried to talk Barra out of coming down this road, she was just as stubborn as him when she told him she wanted the best candy. Barra had never been in Robert’s house before, so Gendry was still trying to figure out an excuse to tell her about why they couldn’t go to the biggest house in King’s Landing. 

“Have you had a good Halloween?” Arya asks Barra and sets the candy bowl down at the front door.

“Oh yes, I’ve gotten a lot of candy. And Gendry hasn’t complained at all that I drug him all the way up here.” 

“Really?”

“Really. I wanted to ask if my sister Myrcella would take me, but my mom said she probably had plans already.”

“Thanks, Barra. Way to make me feel appreciated.” 

“Don’t be silly. I’m very happy to have you take me, too.”

“Barra, my sister made candy apples for our niece and nephew, but if you ask her really nicely and tell her you know me, I bet you she’ll give you one. She’s in the kitchen and her name is Sansa,” Arya says and points down her hall. Gendry starts to follow Barra to make sure she doesn’t touch anything. 

“Hey, Gendry,” Arya says. He turns and she leans against the staircase. He turns to look back to Barra. “She can’t hurt anything, it’s okay,” Arya assures. 

“I just don’t want her bothering anybody. She’s very _nosy_.” He says the last bit loud enough for Barra to hear him down the hall, in the hopes that she’ll remember not to ask everyone questions that aren’t her business. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. My brother’s kids are about the same age, we’re all used to it.”

“If she’s not back in a few minutes, I’ll go grab her,” Gendry promises. 

Arya nods. “She’s cute. How old is she?”

“Nine.”

“Do you take her trick or treating a lot?”

“Just this year,” Gendry says. “Her mom’s working.”

“Oh, cool. You’re very good with her.”

“Thanks.”

“So, there’s a party tonight,” Arya says. He waits for her to say something else.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of parties tonight. It’s Halloween.” It sounds mean after he says it, and he doesn’t want to be mean to her. 

Arya gives him a little laugh. “Right, um. Well, this party is special because I’m inviting you.” 

Gendry hates parties. And he barely knows Arya. She’s Myrcella’s best friend, but Gendry hardly knows Myrcella and has only talked to Arya a few times. And the whole time she’s been talking to him, he knows he’s being too short, but he can’t think of what else to say. And he’s not wearing a costume and he isn’t going to be able to find one this late. But he feels like he can’t say no. 

“Yeah, sure. I’ve got to drop Barra off, first, but—”

“Great!” She smiles so big and Gendry knows why he couldn’t say no, now. 

The doorbell rings and Arya picks up the candy bowl. He watches her smile and hand out candy and doesn’t even notice Barra standing behind him, with a half eaten candy apple. 

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Barra asks as soon as Arya closes the door. 

“Barra,” Gendry groans. “Nosy.”

“I don’t,” Arya says and Barra elbows Gendry. Arya smiles at them. Or him. He’d like to think she was smiling at him. 

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Barra whispers, rather loudly, to Gendry. 

“Thank you. I heard.”

“So, do you want to meet me there or do you want me to come to you?” Arya asks. 

“I can come get you,” he offers. He doesn’t want Arya to come all the way out to Flea Bottom on Halloween. 

She nods and smiles at him. 

“Well, we better get going,” he says. “We’ve got more houses to hit.”

Arya nods and opens the door up for them. “See you later,” she says and Gendry nods. 

“Thank you for the candy apple,” Barra says and follows Gendry outside. 

Arya shuts the door behind them and Gendry walks Barra over to Arya’s neighbor’s. He unwraps a jolly rancher from Barra and waits at the end of the porch for her. 

“When is your party?” Barra asks when she comes back to him. “Because I can be done trick-or-treating after this street if you want to go get sexed up.”

Gendry accidentally swallows his jolly rancher whole. 

“ _What_?”

“I can be done if you wanna get sexed up. I think my mom will be home from work soon.”

“Gods, I’m not talking about this with you. It’s not your business.”

“Okay.”

But Gendry did want an excuse to avoid Robert’s house, and now he’s found one. 

“I’m taking you home after this street, though.”

“Alright,” she says. “I’m getting tired, anyway.” 

He remembers when Barra walks up to the next house and rings the doorbell that he never actually told Arya what time he would be back to pick her up. He might as well go back as soon as he drops off Barra. 

“You’re welcome that I wanted to trick or treat up here,” Barra says halfway through their walk back. 

They near Barra’s apartment where she lives with her mom and Barra stops in front of him. 

“Oh, I love Mrs. Smallwood! She watches me sometimes when mom is working! Can we please go to one last house?” 

Gendry nods and holds Barra’s arm to cross the street. Her pillowcase has gotten so full she needs both hands to carry it now. 

“Trick or treat,” Barra grins. 

“Well, hello my little princess,” Mrs. Smallwood grins and lifts her witch’s hat characteristically. “Happy Halloween.” 

“You’re a witch!” 

“I sure am. And is this your prince?” Mrs. Smallwood gives Gendry a kind smile and holds the candy bowl out to him. He gives her a smile back and grabs a candy bar before Mrs. Smallwood moves the bowl down to Barra. 

“This is my big brother, Gendry,” Barra chatters on. “He didn’t wear a costume, but he took me all around town and I got so much candy. I got a lot of jolly ranchers, too, but I hate those, so I give them all to Gendry,” she says. Mrs. Smallwood nods along attentively, and Gendry can’t help but notice the small crowd of children forming behind Barra. 

“Say goodnight, Barra.” Gendry reaches for Barra’s shoulder and corrals her to the apartment building stairs. “Goodnight, Mrs. Smallwood,” he says. 

“Goodnight, Gendry. Happy Halloween, sweetheart.” She says and gives Barra a little wave. Barra waves back and starts up the steps. She digs through her pillowcase and hands Gendry more jolly ranchers every time she gets a handful. He’s running out of pocket space. 

“Arya is very pretty. She had gems on her dress.”

“She did.” 

“Do you see her a lot because of Myrcella?” 

“Yes.”

“Does she normally wear such pretty dresses?” 

“Sometimes.”

“What kind of stuff does she like?”

Gendry sighs. He’s not about to admit to his nine year old sister that the first time he’s ever actually had a real conversation with Arya is because she begged him to take her up the fancier streets of King’s Landing.

“She likes dancing. Ballet, specifically. And she likes… music.” He’s sure she’s playing music every time he sees her. “And…”

“Have you ever even talked to her?” 

“Of course, I have,” Gendry assures. But all he can think about are the times he’s been in Robert’s house and happened upon her.

_“_ _Oh, hey,” the girl sitting at Robert’s kitchen table says. He had been storming through to get back out the front door and she, all dolled up with some rollers in her hair, stops him. “You’re Gendry, right? Myrcella’s brother?”_

_“Brother’s a strong word,” he says before he thinks better about it._

_“So I’ve heard. Well, she’s made me her latest test subject and I_ _don’t know where she’s gone. I can’t move to get my phone. It’s on the counter right behind you and you’re like, the first person I’ve seen in thirty minutes, could you please hand it to me?”_

_Gendry sighs and plucks the red adorned phone off the countertop. He sets it on the table beside her, and without another word, walks through the front door._

_“Thank you,” she calls after him._

Every time he’s ran into her at Robert’s, she’s come up with something to say. Which isn’t unusual for her, from what he knows she can talk to anyone, but he can never think of something to say back. He always felt stupid thinking about how she made him speechless, like he would have ever had a chance with her to begin with (especially now that he’s seen the house she grew up in). But now she’s invited him to a party and she smiled at him when she told Barra she didn’t have a boyfriend. 

Barra knocks on her door when they reach the apartment. “Do you think Arya will be your girlfriend?”

Gendry laughs. “Good one, Barra.”

Barra rolls her eyes. 

“Hey! Your mom let you do that?” He checks. 

“As long as I’m not in school.”

“Fair enough.” He knocks on the door again. “Why don’t you have your own key?”

“Mom thinks I’d lose it.”

He leans against the wall and unwraps a jolly rancher. Barra pulls out a handful of her own candy and rifles through it. 

Mhaegan opens the door a few minutes later in her robe and combs through her hair. 

“Hi mom. Bye, Gendry.” Barra turns to Mhaegan. “He’s going to go get sexed up,” she clarifies. 

“Oh?” Mhaegan says.

“But he said that it was none of my business.”

“Well, that’s true. That’s too personal to ask about Miss Barra. Why don’t you start getting ready for bed and I’ll come in for a story in a little bit?”

Barra nods. 

“And no candy after you brush your teeth,” Mhaegan warns. 

Barra nods again and shoves the bit in her hand in her mouth before she walks inside. 

“I’m sorry she said that, I swear I didn’t—“ Gendry starts.

“No, I know. She hears everything at school. I can’t stop what the other nine year olds say.”

“True. I’m not really sure why that’s the talk of the third grade, when I was nine I still thought girls had cooties and—“

“And you were probably building car engines out of a rubber band and a screw,” she says. 

“No. I didn’t have that talent until I was at least ten.” 

Mhaegan rolls her eyes at him. Barra must get it from her. “Thanks for taking her trick or treating. It means a lot to me that you’re here for her.”

“Yeah, of course,” he says. “I like spending time with her.”

Mhaegan smiles, but then she presses a palm to her forehead. “Gods know your father would never—“

“He’s not my father,” Gendry interrupts. “I lived in the same city as him my entire life and he never bothered to know me until his wife left him for her brother, so...”

Mhaegan nods. “I’m sorry for bringing him up. But I just need to talk to you about him real quick.”

Gendry sighs. 

“I’m going to start taking the money he sends. I need it for Barra.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.”

“Well, we made a pact.”

“That pact was always stupid. You had Barra to think about.”

“It felt right at the time. I just don’t know how to tell Mya and Bella. If it comes down to it, can you please be on my side?”

“Yeah. They never should have made you a part of that. If you want Robert in her life, it’s not my business. And it’s not theirs.”

“Thank you.” Mhaegan pulls him into a hug. “I was scared you’d be mad at me.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not,” he promises. 

“And thank you, again,” she pulls away. “Barra would have been devastated if she couldn’t go out tonight.”

“She gave me enough jolly ranchers to last the rest of my life, so don’t worry about it.”

“Mom,” Barra says from the hallway. “My tiara is stuck in my hair.” 

Mhaegan smiles a little but hides it before she turns around. “Oh, honey. What did you do?”

Barra shrugs and Mhaegan walks over to help her pull it free. 

“Well, I’m gonna head out,” Gendry says and Mhaegan nods at him. 

She covers Barra’s ears. “Go get sexed up.”

“Don’t ruin it for me,” Gendry begs and shuts their door behind him. 

He checks the time before he starts his walk back up to the rich part of King’s Landing, with his hands tucked in the pockets of his coat. He stands at the end of her driveway for a few minutes before he gathers the courage to knock on her front door. She could’ve just invited him as a friend. Or maybe, and while she never seemed cruel all the times he had spoken to her, the posh kids of King’s Landing wanted to make fun of him for thinking he could have a place here. He might have a rich _father_ now, but he didn’t always. Then he thinks again of her smiling and the silly excuses she would make to talk to him as he stomped through Robert’s house. He couldn’t have looked approachable any of those times. When he finally starts to walk up, a few kids run ahead of him and knock on her door first for candy. He sighs and waits until they’ve gone before he walks up to her door and knocks. 

“Hi,” he says when she answers the door. 

“Hi.” She sets the candy bowl down and opens the door up for him to come inside. “My mom and Sansa are taking my brother’s kids out, so I’m still on candy duty until they come back. But it shouldn’t be too long. The twins get tired pretty quickly and they’ve got school tomorrow,” she says. “And I’m sure trick or treating will probably end soon, it’s getting kind of late.” 

Gendry nods. 

“I’m sorry. I’m rambling.” 

“No, it’s fine,” Gendry says. He doesn’t even know what to say, so he doesn’t mind listening to her. 

“Do you want some water or something?” She asks. 

“No, I’m good,” he says. 

She sits down on the couch in the living room and Gendry follows her. He sits by her and puts his hands back in the pockets of his coat. He doesn’t know what to say, once again. 

“So, have you gone to a party at Trystane’s before?”

Gendry shakes his head. He doubts he’s ever met anyone in her friend group besides Myrcella. 

“They’re fun.”

“Good to know.”

Arya opens her mouth to say something, but the front door opens and Arya stands up and grins.

“Did you guys have fun?” she asks to two little kids. 

They nod and one of them opens the bag of candy to show Arya how much they collected. 

“Wow, that’s a lot of candy,” Arya says. “Do you think you can eat all of that yourself?” 

She talks to the kids for a while and Gendry tries not to notice the two redheaded women staring at him. 

“Who is this?” The older one asks when Arya stops chattering with her niece and nephew. 

“Mom, this is Gendry.”

Her mom stares at her, clearly expecting more explanation. “Myrcella’s brother. He’s going to Trystane’s party with me.”

She turns to Gendry and gives him a long look. 

“Gendry, this is my mom. And this is sister, my Sansa.” She blushes when she realizes what she said. “Um, Sansa, my sister,” she says. 

Sansa smiles at him.

“And Lyarra and Eddard, my brother’s twins.” 

Gendry waves at the twins. Lyarra waves back, but Eddard looks at his grandmother. 

“Well, we better get going,” Arya says. Gendry stands and walks towards her. 

“What time are you coming home?” Arya’s mother asks. 

“Um, late, probably. Midnight?”

“You better text your father and let him know.” 

Arya nods. 

Her mother pulls her into a hug. “Have fun,” she says. “And be safe.” She grabs Arya by the shoulders and gives her a firm look. “Don’t go to Flea Bottom.” 

“Right. I won’t.” Arya says. She waves bye to the twins and Sansa. 

Gendry doesn’t know what to say to her mother and sister, so he shoves his hands back in his pockets and gives them both a nod before following Arya outside. He checks the time on his phone again. Arya had to be in her twenties. Midnight was quite the curfew for her. 

“Do you mind if we take the subway?” Arya asks.

Gendry shakes his head. “Not at all.” 

“Okay, good. It’s a long walk now that I’ve got to be home by midnight,” she groans. 

“Do you always have a curfew?”

“Only if I go out with a boy.”

Gendry lets out a laugh. “How old are you? Twenty-something?”

“I just turned twenty.”

“And you can’t go out with guys without a curfew?”

This time Arya laughs. “Yep. Guess what curfew my younger brothers have?”

“One?”

“Nothing. They could stay out for days and my parents wouldn’t care.”

“Damn.”

“Did you have a curfew?”

“Be back before my mom was home, I guess. I never really went anywhere, though,” he admits.

“Not cool.”

“Sorry about it.”

They talk about school for a while on the subway, and he finds out Arya is majoring in accounting, but she wants to be at an art school for ballet. She likes math enough, though. She asks a bit about Dr. Seaworth since she wants to take a class with him next semester, and Gendry is a TA for one of his freshman engineering courses. 

He doesn’t go to parties if he can help it, but Arya doesn’t seem interested in leaving his side once they arrive. She gets drinks with him and says hi to a few people, holding his arm to weave him through the crowds. She says Gendry is dressed as a lumberjack, and he can’t argue with that idea. 

“Hi, Gendry,” Myrcella says. 

“Hey.”

“Arya said you took Barra trick or treating?” She asks. 

Gendry nods. “She dressed as a princess.”

“That’s sweet of you,” she says. 

“She’s adorable,” Arya says. “She called me an angel.” 

“Awe,” Myrcella coos. She pinches Arya’s cheek. “You _are_ an angel.”

Arya grins. 

“Oh, Gendry, this is Trystane,” Arya says and motions to the guy that has just come up and slung his arm over Myrcella’s shoulders. 

“Hey,” Trystane says.

“Hey.” Gendry looks back to Arya. Maybe if he concentrates hard enough he can telepathically tell Arya he would rather be doing literally anything else than making small talk with his half sister and her boyfriend. 

Trystane plants a kiss on Myrcella and Arya grabs Gendry’s forearm again as she walks away from them. 

“They’ll be at that for a while,” Arya says. She sits down on the couch and pats the spot beside her. Gendry sits. 

“So, Myrcella says you guys have more sisters.” 

“And a brother. That we know of,” Gendry grimaces. “There’s Mya and Bella who both live a bit away, and Edric. He lives in the Stormlands with Robert’s younger brother.” 

“Damn.”

“Like I said, though, that’s how many we know of. He probably has more kids around.”

“He’s a prick,” Arya says. 

Gendry nods. 

“Do you want another drink?” 

“Yes, please,” she says and hands him her cup. 

He pours a drink for each of them and walks back to Arya. She takes her cup back before Gendry sits down. He wants to wait for Arya to talk again, but he knows that if he wants anything to come of them, he’s gotta talk to her eventually. 

“How many siblings do you have?”

“I’ve got one sister, Sansa, you met her, and then five brothers. Three older and two younger.”

“Damn.” 

She nods. “Theon’s the oldest. But he moved back with his birth father in the Iron Islands, so I haven’t heard from him in a while. Then there’s Robb. He has the twins. Jon’s in the military, and Bran and Rickon still live with our parents and me. Bran graduates high school this year and Rickon is a freshman.”

“Full house.”

Arya nods. 

“What’s your mom like?” 

“She’s cool. She raised me herself, and she lives just a few streets away from where I live now. She watches Barra sometimes for Mhaegan and Barra loves her.”

Arya grins. 

“I think Barra loves everyone.”

Gendry shakes his head. “Oh, no. She hates Joffrey after just hearing what I have to say about him.”

“A girl after my own heart,” Arya smiles. 

His phone pings in his lap. 

**Myr:** **ooh** **btw tomorrows check day. i guess your roots could get touched up**

Gendry squints at the screen for a second. Check day? Roots? What the hell is Myrcella talking about? And she’s Myrcella in his phone, not Myr.

Another ping. 

**Dad: Your mother said you were going to a party with Robert’s son. Not the blonde one, though. Text me when you’re on your way home.**

And he definitely does not have a dad. 

“This isn’t my phone,” he announces and holds it out to Arya. When she grabs it back, he says the red case and figures that probably should have been his first clue. He can’t even remember how he managed to get ahold of it.

“It’s mine,” Arya says and grabs it. “You dolt.”

He places the phone in her hand and she blushes when she sees the text from Myrcella. 

“Wait. Check day like when I get a check from Robert in the mail and rip it up in his office?”

“No.” She blushes more.

“I’m the meanest on check day. That’s a bad day to want to see me.”

“You’re only mean to Robert and well, there’s no use pretending he doesn’t deserve it.”

“I guess that’s true. Do you only hang out with Myrcella to see me then?”

Arya rolls her eyes. “She’s my best friend, so don’t let your head get too big. Sometimes you’re just a bonus.”

“Interesting. So you _like_ me,” he teases. He’s thankful he’s beat her to this point in the evening, since all along he thought it would be him that was revealed. But Barra did attempt to be his wingman back at her house and she still was happy to see him and spent the night with him so far.

“Yes. I’m getting a Miller. Do you want one?” Gendry covers his smile by resting his head on his fist over his mouth and nods. 

Okay, so she likes him. 

He likes her. 

But that still doesn’t mean anything’s gonna come from it. He needs to play his cards just right. Maybe get her to agree to a date after tonight and definitely get her phone—

Arya comes back with two bottles in her hand. She hands both of them to Gendry and he looks at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Can I sit on your lap?”

Gendry nods. He forgets words for a while. She sits against the armrest of the couch, rests her legs over his thighs, and reaches for her drink. And now he doesn’t know what to do with his other hand. 

* * *

“I like being with you,” Arya says. “A lot. You can be kind of moody and abrasive, but you’re sweet.” 

Gendry doesn’t know he’s ever been described as sweet this many times in his whole life put together as he has tonight. 

“I like being with you, too. I think you’re fun. And I want to kiss you,” Gendry admits. He's not sure how many drinks they've had this evening, but the words fall right from his mouth.

“Please.” 

Gendry doesn’t want to kiss her in front of other people. Once he starts kissing her, he doesn’t know if he’ll stop if she doesn’t want him to.

“Do _not_ make out on my couch,” Trystane groans from beside them. “That’s disgusting,” he says, even though he has been playing suck and blow with other people for almost an hour, which Gendry thinks is a lot grosser. 

“We’re not going to make out.” Arya stands up. “On your couch.” She grins and reaches for Gendry’s hand. 

He pushes himself up to stand and follows Arya to the door. 

“Thank you, Trystane,” she calls. “Happy Halloween!” She reaches for the handle of the front door and opens it, stepping out behind Gendry. 

“So,” he starts. “Where are we going?”

“Well, I still live with my parents,” she says. “So we can’t go to my house. I mean, we probably could, but it would be a hassle sneaking you inside,” she says. “You do not have quiet footsteps.” 

“I live in Flea Bottom.” 

“Alright.” 

“Your mom said you weren’t allowed in Flea Bottom.”

“Oh, that’s just because she’s classist. I say I’m allowed in Flea Bottom.” She smiles at him. 

“Okay, just a heads up, though, I’ve got roommates, but one works late and the other is definitely going to be… busy,” Gendry says. Anguy loved Halloween because he could go to any party he wanted and would usually bring someone back to the apartment. Gendry learned to turn up scary movies really loud to drown them out. 

“That’s okay,” she says. “I don’t mind. Roommates are better than my dad.”

Gendry nods. That would be a situation to explain to Arya. Gendry had met Ned Stark before when he came to Gendry’s apartment and tried to tell him Robert was genuinely a good man. Gendry had said, verbatim, “And who the fuck are you to tell me what he is?” 

Ned Stark left after that and hasn’t visited him since.

Gendry unlocks the door to his apartment and leaves Arya at the door to do a quick check over the apartment to see if they were alone. He walks back to get her. 

“Do you want water or anything?”

“No, thanks,” she says. 

“Alright.” He pauses. He doesn’t know if he should immediately take her to his room, but Arya stands at the door with her coat on and bag in hand. 

“You can leave your coat on the hook if you want. Or you can leave it in my room. I wouldn’t leave your purse out here, though. One time Anguy’s ex-girlfriend stole our toaster, so there’s not a whole lot of trust between me and his guests.” 

She laughs. “Your toaster?”

“Yes. Imagine my surprise when I try to make some fucking toast the next morning and all she left behind were some fucking crumbs.” 

“That’s so shitty. Did she buy it for him?” 

“No! It was Hot Pie’s.”

“Well, in that case, I think I’ll leave my coat and bag in your room,” she says with a smile. 

Gendry nods. “Smart choice.”

She follows him back to his bedroom and he points to his desk for her to leave her stuff on. He sits down on the edge of his bed, and then he wonders if that was sending out too strong of a signal. But she sits down by him and drapes one of her legs over his. Gendry breathes softly.

“Do you wanna watch a movie or…?”

“No.”

He sets his hands behind him to support his upper body. She stares at his lips for a moment and scoots closer, and Gendry rethinks the placement of his hands.

“Can I kiss you?” 

She nods and leans forward, and Gendry leans forward, too. He bumps her nose with his and she laughs a little. He sets one of his hands on her hip and she presses her lips to his. He freezes up for a second and Arya sets her hand on his thigh. 

He grabs her hip through her dress and runs his hand up higher. 

They kiss until Gendry thinks his lips are swollen, and Arya pulls away and moves her lips to his chin, her breath heavy against his skin. She presses soft kisses along his jaw and neck and pulls aside the collar of his shirt when she reaches his collarbone. He slides his hand down to the edge of the slit in her dress and slips his hand up. She shifts against him, pulling herself closer and kisses the other side of his neck. 

He pushes his hand up to her hip where the tight corset stops his hand. He runs his fingers along the skin he can reach and Arya giggles when he brushes over the bottom of her stomach. “It’s ticklish,” she says. Gendry laughs a little too and moves his hand back to her hip. 

“Can I take my dress off?” 

“Yeah.” 

Arya stands. She reaches behind her and pulls on the laces. She struggles for a few moments and tosses her head back with a groan. She turns around. “I can’t undo the tie.”

He stands up. “I got it,” he promises and fumbles a little with the ends of the tie before pulling. 

“Gendry, you’re just tightening the knot.”

“Sorry.”

“Stop pulling the ears.”

“There’re no ears,” he murmurs. 

Arya reaches behind her and grabs two hanging laces, tugging on the same part as him, tightening the laces again. Gendry hears the apartment door unlocking and groans. 

“Anguy’s back.”

“The one who dates toaster-stealers? Fuck.”

“Yes. I’m just gonna turn the TV on,” he says. 

She nods and continues attempting to untie her dress. He turns on the first scary movie he sees and walks back to Arya.

He studies the knot again. “How do we get this off?”

“If you take scissors to it, I’ll kill you. So will my sister. She spent forever helping me find this lace to tie it. And if you cut it, it might break the hooks.” Gendry doesn’t know what hooks she’s talking about, but he doesn’t think breaking those will be worth it, if he’ll die.

“Fair enough.” 

“How tight is it?”

Arya raises her eyebrow at him. “Tight.” 

“So, it can’t go over your head?”

“Wow, you have never worn a corset.”

“You sound shocked.”

“Oh, fuck it,” she mutters. “Okay, it’s fine, it doesn’t hurt, I can pull the dress up and you just have to be careful with what you do.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“And neat. The dress is white, but please remember it’s dry clean only.”

“Dry clean only, okay, got it, very sexy.” 

“Shut up.”

Gendry laughs and sits back down on the edge of his bed, gently tugging on her hands towards him. She sets her hands on his shoulders, and sits in his lap, straddling him. He runs his hand up the slit of her dress and Arya leans into his touch. Gendry lets go of her to pull his flannel off, and Arya pulls his t-shirt up to get it untucked. He slides his hands back under her dress and when she’s satisfied with the ability to run her fingers over the bare skin of his stomach, she grabs his face with both hands and bites on his bottom lip a little. He runs his fingers up to the end of her panties, and rubs his thumb underneath on her hip. She presses one of her hands to his chest and runs her fingers down. 

“Can I undo your pants?” Arya asks and Gendry nods. She reaches for his belt and unbuckles it with steady hands. She wraps one edge around her hand and pulls it out of his pants, tossing it behind her. She undoes the button next and unzips them. She reaches her hand down the front and Gendry has to kiss her. She has a soft touch and makes him chase her lips for a second, but he grabs her head long enough to catch them. He touches a piece of her fake gash on accident and pulls away from the kiss. He pulls her hand out of his pants.

“I’m sorry, I just feel a little weird getting turned on when you’re... missing chunks of face,” he admits. 

Arya laughs and presses her hands on his thighs for support to stand. “Where’s your bathroom? I’ll wash off what I can.”

Gendry smiles at her. “Thanks. It’s the second door on your left. If anyone tries to talk to you, just yell.”

“Yell what?”

“I don’t know. Direwolf?” 

“Are you worried it’ll take me a few hours to get back to you if I start talking to your roommate? Is he chatty?” 

He lets out a small laugh. “He can be. It’s mostly you I’m worried about, though.”

“I’ll be quick.” She pecks his lips. “I’m sure your sister will be sad to know her hard work just went right down the drain, though,” Arya says and sticks out her bottom lip. 

“Please don’t bring up my sister again tonight.”

“I can manage that.” Arya laughs a little as she leaves his room. He stands up as soon as she’s left and rifles around in his drawers for condoms. He’s not gonna leave the strip out on his nightstand, but he wants to at least know where they are if needed. He finds a strip and sets it on top in his drawer and shuts it. He sits back down at the edge of his bed and rubs his hands over his thighs. 

He wonders if things would have been different if he had grown up with Robert. Would Arya still have lived next door and would she have been best friend’s with Myrcella? But if Robert had invited his bastards to live with him, he’s sure Cersei would have left with the kids a lot sooner. Would Arya have liked him if he had been born rich like her? His door opens again and Arya holds up the top of her dress.

“Funny story, um, I just met your roommate’s new non-toaster-stealing girlfriend, very nice, now the knot is out of my dress.” Gendry stands as soon as she turns. She’s scrubbed off most of the makeup, and her face is a deep shade of pink now.

“Do I pull the laces out or loosen them?” 

“Just loosen, it will be faster.”

Gendry pulls on the bottom lace and moves up the dress. “How’s that?” 

Arya tugs on the front of the dress, but doesn’t pull it down. 

“Zippers are an invention, you know,” he says as he tucks his finger in the bottom lace again. 

“It would ruin the integrity of the costume.” 

Gendry sets his hand on her hip and turns her towards him. He kisses her and tugs on the laces, hoping he doesn’t miss any. 

“You didn’t paint yourself blue,” he says. “Did that ruin the integrity of your costume?”

“Someone’s impatient,” she teases. 

“Getting there,” he admits. There’s no use in lying when she’s got to feel that he’s hard since he’s pressed up against her trying to unlace her dress. 

She tugs on the front of the dress again and unclasps the hooks on the front. She pushes the dress down to her hips and Gendry pulls her slip up high enough that he can reach underneath it. 

“Gods, you’re so hot,” Arya says and pulls at the hem of his t-shirt.

"You, too." He stops kissing her for a second and pulls it off. Arya pushes the dress to her ankles and walks towards Gendry to step out of it. He walks back and sits down on the edge of his bed again, and pulls Arya to stand between his legs. She runs her hands up and down his thighs and just barely has to lean down to kiss him.

“Did you think I had this in mind when I invited you to the party?”

“Definitely not. I wanted you to have this in mind, though,” he says. 

“Interesting,” Arya murmurs. 

“What’s interesting?”

She shrugs. Gendry rolls his eyes and kisses her.

Arya reaches for the front of his jeans and slips her hand down them again. Gendry stands up long enough to get them to his knees and sits back down on his bed. Arya reaches for the waistband and tugs them down to his ankles. 

Jolly ranchers overflow from his pockets like a scene from a goddamn horror movie. Arya grabs a fistfull and holds them up like Gendry can’t already see them. 

“You rob a small group of children on the way to my house?” 

“Barra.”

“You… robbed Barra?”

“No. She hates them, so she gives them to me.”

“Awwe, that is so sweet,” she says. “Myrcella's trying to spend more time with her. She sounds like a little sweetheart.” 

“I thought you weren’t gonna talk about my sisters, anymore.”

“Oh yeah, I did say that. Well, I’m taking some of these,” Arya says and stands to set the heap on top of her purse. Her purse is zipped and they fall down the sides. 

She turns back to him and stares at his face, like she’s studying him.

“You have a very nice jawline,” she says and kneels between his legs. 

“Thank you.” He gulps. She rests her head on his leg and gazes at him. 

“And pretty eyes.” 

He blushes. “You have pretty eyes, too,” he says and she smiles at him. He likes her smile, too, but he feels like the words get caught in his throat. He caresses her cheek and she turns her head to kiss his palm. 

“I don’t…” Gendry starts. He sighs. He doesn’t want to admit the embarrassing thing, but he wants to be honest. “I don’t do this often. Ever, actually.” 

Arya raises her eyebrows and lifts her head. “Oh, okay. So you’ve never…?”

“No, I’ve had sex. Just not—” He rubs a hand down his face. He could’ve just kept it a secret. “She was my girlfriend for a while, so… not casually.”

Arya lets out a nearly silent laugh. Gendry raises his eyebrows. “No, wait. That wasn’t a laugh at you,” she assures. “It was a relief laugh.” 

“A relief laugh?”

“I don’t either. I just thought because you’re older and… live on your own,” she says and does a few gesturing movements towards him with her hands.

Gendry shakes his head. 

“I was worried you’d have a lot to compare me to.” 

Gendry shakes his head again. “Nothing compares to you,” he mumbles. He’s not really sure where he pulled that from but she blushes and covers her smile. He’s grateful for that ounce of smooth he had for this evening. 

“You borrow that line?” 

“No, it’s mine.” 

Arya stands back up and kisses Gendry. He runs his hands over her thighs and up her body to her back and down again. She steps closer to him and Gendry brushes his fingertips over the waistband of her panties. Arya’s breath catches. 

“Is that alright?” 

She nods. “Yes,” she adds, and he slips a finger into the sides at both of her hips to pull them off of her legs. Gendry pushes himself further up the bed and Arya sets her knees on the mattress. 

He lays down on his side, pulling her against him and slides his hands up her slip. She pulls the hem up to her belly and Gendry slides his hand up the inside of her thigh. She lifts her left leg up and wraps it over Gendry’s waist. He leans forward to kiss her again and trails his hand between Arya’s thighs. He watches her face and she helps guide his hand, but soon he’s got her gasping between the bites she leaves on his shoulder. 

She pulls his hand up to her stomach and runs his fingers over his forearm.

“I missed my curfew,” Arya whispers and kisses Gendry’s neck. 

Gendry looks at his clock. “Oh shit, sorry.” 

Arya shakes her head. “No, I’ve already missed. We might as well make the most of it.”

She sits up and pulls the pink slip over her head. Her skin is hot against his when she presses her body back to him. 

He runs his hand down her bare back and kisses the divot on the front of her neck. She stretches her neck out and Gendry presses a kiss to each spot he can reach. 

“Can I get on top?” 

“Yes,” she says and moves to lay flat on her back. Gendry shifts and places his open palm on the side of her head and rests a knee between her legs.

She chews on her bottom lip while he climbs on top of her and hovers her hands over his upper arms, waiting for him to stop moving before she grabs them. 

It takes them a bit of shifting, but she leans up to kiss him plenty of times that the extra minute it takes to feel right is worth it. 

She lets go of his arms and runs her fingers over his shoulders and up his neck. She leaves one hand to rest on his face and wraps the other around his neck. 

He smiles at her and she smiles back. “You’re so out of my league,” Gendry whispers.

Arya laughs and nods. “Yeah, right.” She kisses him again. 

“It’s true.” 

Arya gives him the tiniest smile she can manage through pursed lips. “If you say so.” 

“I do say so,” he says. 

“Alright,” she says and rolls her eyes with another blush.

He kisses her cheek.

* * *

“You’ve really missed your curfew now,” Gendry murmurs into her hair. 

Arya lifts her head to look at his clock. She groans. “If I don’t go home now, I’m sure you’ll never see me again.” 

He laughs and nods. “Alright, then. I’ll walk you home.” 

She pulls her slip back over her head before she stands up and gathers the dress. “If you do, just make sure you stand very far away from my porch unless you want my parents to interrogate you.”

“Will do,” he promises and reaches for his own clothes. 

* * *

"Okay, well this is probably a good spot for you to turn around," Arya says. 

Gendry nods. 

"I had a very nice time. Maybe we can go out on a date soon or something?" 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that a lot," Gendry says. "I just need your phone number, then." 

Arya smiles and takes his phone when he holds it out to her. She types her number in and hands it back to him. 

"Don't come 'round to Robert's tomorrow." 

"Why not?" She raises her eyebrows and tilts her head a little.

"Because you're gonna have way more chances to see me when I'm in a better mood now."

"Fair enough." She leans up on her toes and gives Gendry one last kiss.

"I'll see you later." 

She grins. "Yes. Happy Halloween."

"Happy Halloween, Arya."

**Author's Note:**

> hi ! this is a little late for halloween but to be fair its been mostly written for a while i just didnt have the right stuff to finish it aha but ive landed myself in quarantine for a few days for not corona which is fun to explain and now ive got so much time and so much desire to do anything but my homework so !!! its a fun time
> 
> also a reminder to please please please wear your masks and social distance ! you might be bored of corona but that doesnt mean its over !!!


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